OK skip bayless. right now it's splitting hairs, but 10/10 people would pick LBJ going forward.

Yes, you are correct. I went back and looked at the bet, and you have 50 and above. So technically the line is 49.5

just want to weigh in that the jazz have been hit harder by injuries than any team other than the spurs htis year. that said, spurs have run hot (standard) to open the season, so their record doesn't reflect their true suckiness.

among your 3rd tier, i dont think the spurs are on the same level as the nugs.

it's really hard to say, but the hornets and rockets dont look good, the suns do in spurts, i really like the nugs, the mavs had a rocky start but are turning the corner, and the spurs are majorly ****ed, even though manu is coming back soon.

blazers look sharp with a healthy oden, so im not sure if they deserve to be 9th. warriors are DEF 10th.

if I had to make a "not my guys" squad, Travis Outlaw would be on it. He's effective at what he does, but I hate watching him play.

Does he have any offensive move besides one hard dribble then pull-up from 17 feet?

LBJ > Wade almost purely due to D and much better TO #s. Wade is consistently one of the most TO prone guys in the league.

LBJ is also currently leading the league in faces pwned off.

Yea, pretty much agree with this, all the t3 teams have serious problems that they need to address, I'll give Utah a free pass since they haven't had Dwill. For those other teams to have ANY chance against the Lakers they must:

Rockets: Find a way for their trio to all be effective all the time. Easier said than done obv, but they have the best chance if they can somehow solve this. Tmac should be the #1 decision maker.

Suns: Completely change the way they play offense. Seriously, stop making Shaq post-ups one of the focal points and bring back the ****ing pick-n-roll.

Spurs: Hard to say, if Mason and some of these other guys can continue to be productive (and probably more importantly, efficient) when TP/Manu get back they might have enough offense to get it done. Hopefully they fall into a grease fire before this tho.

Hornets: They seem to have regressed some since last year and the Lakers seem to own them. So I dunno, play the way they did last year but much better?

Nugs: Make another trade? I dunno, really talented team just the Lakers always own them.

Mavs: Make a trade?

Blazer's defense blows. I think at this point, the most likely scenario is the same 8 playoff teams as last year. Denver could make the WCF and it wouldn't surprise me.

huh? KG has been conclusively better. Duncan has been the 2nd best PF the past 25 years though, I'll give you that.

Manu on a per minute basis was the best shooting guard in the league last year. (Ensuing chuckles) But seriously, when healthy, his production is just shy of Wade/Kobe. He doesn't have the publicity, but basically since Shaq/Kobe (once that marriage got a divorce) the Spurs have had the best tandem in the league.

Interestingly, the lack of regular season accolades due to lower MPG and slower pace makes this less recognizable. Also, when you throw in Parker - an underrated defender and obviously a guy who can create on his own - you have all 3 ways to score in an elite fashion (slashing, postup, outside shooting) coupled by all 3 stars being good (manu) to great (duncan) defenders.

I'll go further here and say since Parker came into the league (including Lakers dominance with Kobe/Shaq) the Spurs have had the top 3some in the league. That said, I don't know if it's fair to say THIS year they have the top 3some in the West because:
1. The Lakers Bynum/Gasol/Kobe is pretty ****ing great
2. The Jazz haven't been healthy, but Deron/Boozer/AK is up there
3. The Spurs have aged, obviously, and are hurt, both of which will dent their production

Put another way, I think the other top western teams have VASTLY overrated 3somes:
Rockets Yao/Artest/Tmac not only has major injury issues, but even when healthy they're not elite scoring wise. Further, IMO it looks like Tmac and Artest haven't really been playing that well together, which makes quasi sense as both are true 3s. Some small ball can have Artest at the 4 or big ball with TMac at the 2, but I think these changes hurt their production.
Hornets Paul/West/Chandler hides the fact that West is really not that great. Actually, a step further here, CP3 truly "makes his teammates better". Chandler is a great defender, and I think the 2some is one of the best in the league, but West just doesn't impress me, offensively or defensively. I mean, he's better than average, but does anyone actually think he's a good 2nd or 3rd option? Seriously.
Mavs Dirk/Jhow/Kidd has been suffering from Dirk not really starting out so well. When they finally click I actually think their core is the 4th best in the West, so I don't want to say anything disparaging. The fact their 5th best player+ rivals (in terms of awfulness) the Spurs is depressing. (Terry > Mason though!)
Suns Nash/Shaq/Amare is the worst defensive trio of the group. Shaq can hold his own, but at this point isn't an elite or even good defender, he's merely mediocre or slightly above average. Calling Amare or Nash's defense a positive is just lolworthy.
TBlazers Roy/LMA/Oden remains to really be seen for what it is, as Oden hasn't played a whole lot. Jury remains out on the coexistence of LMA and Oden. Further, even though I happen to think LMA slightly better than West, does anyone else see a striking resemblance? Meaning, is either player a "good" 2nd or 3rd option? I dont really know.

not that i disagree - pop is an excellent coach - i do think this year the spurs have run pretty good. so have the blazers fwiw, and the blazers did last year, so maybe i SHOULD attribute this to the coach.

i actually disagree here. ive been focusing on wade's defense lately, and he's a lockdown defender. i think the biggest difference is LBJ has a security blanket of Ben Wallace and Big Z - laugh if you want, but he has shot blockers behind him. Wade has Joel Anthony and Michael Beasley. Or the Udominator (being played out of position, giving up 4+ inches every night)

LBJ is underrated as a defender but is very kobe-esque in that he decides when to turn it on and off. also, saying you would take lbj over wade PURELY on defense is a joke, so i wont go further, other than saying thats horrible word choice on your part.

Haven't seen much of Wade this year but before his major injury his help D was excellent and his 1on1 D was average

bobbo, what's with all the absurd assertions lately? I'm as big a KG fanboi as anyone and have argued in the past he's at least equal, if not better, but it's super close.

Comparing career #s, Duncan is a slight favorite, but it's a little unfair since KG came out of HS.

It's ridic thin. And I don't really mind people giving Duncan the edge based on playoffs. KG actually has really good playoff stats, but Duncan has put up some insane production in the postseason. There's something to be said about Pop holding his guys back a bit, and then all the sudden Duncan goes off playing 40mpg for 2 months.

I've only watched 1 heat game this year. If this is true, it's a major turnaround, cuz he was basically a sieve who cheated passing lanes before, ala AI.

expound please

edit: b/c i gave a quick glance at the stats and nothing jumped out one way or another to say "conclusively"

Not to continue my carpet bombing THAT much more, "but"...

Want to chime in that the Jazz have also:
-Boozer is not playing I think bc of a thigh injury
-AK missed time due to dislocated thumb
-Korver is currently out bc sprained wrist
-Okur was in Turkey for a stretch bc his dad was ill
-Only gotten 1 game outta DWill

So, to say they have missed DWill is selling them short, they've missed a BUNCH of games to injury. Its just dessert, I suppose, bc they ran v well with this last year.

At this point I am going to say I dont think TMac and Artest coexist on offense well whatsoever. My opinion could change on this, but neither is a good 3pt shooter, and you want to spread the floor with Yao. If they had a 4 who could shoot 3s, then you can sacrifice your wings not being good shooters, but they dont. Also, all 3 of them work best with the ball in their hands. If they had a PG who could create more (like a Brevin Knight!) then i'd like their situation more.
I've just been very underwhelmed by this team, even tonight's win @ORL didnt impress me at all. Dwight missed a ton of time to racking up fouls and Hedo didn't play, the Magic are not deep so "voila" they lost.

You know, I was critical of their offense, since it seems like it has really killed some of the Nash magic. Keith informed me (I should probably double check the Keith stats we have to confirm this) that the suns still have one of the best offenses - if not THE BEST - in the league.
Shaq is playing well, so I dont think Shaq is the issue. PnR is always nice tho.
This is just a team tho with old wings who aren't playing well and little bigman depth, i'm just not that sure where their potential is... I mean, how they're playing right now seems to me nearly their ceiling. Artdogg, dont hate me for saying that
*Just as a point, I can see every other team with a strong argument for why their team could be better, but I just can't see it with the Suns.

I mean, we need to give them the benefit of the doubt until healthy. Like you, I agree/hope they fall off a cliff, but I just dont know if it'll happen.

Really tough to say. They still are sporting a decent record.

I like the Nugs right now...

Last year he was hurt. Year before that he was solid. Year they won the finals he was good.

Lawyers: I have a question.

Say you file a lawsuit, and you are claiming damages of something. Say you have pictures and video of this damage. Say that you send the pictures/video to the Defendants, but you don't attach it as evidence. Say you get owned by summary judgment because of no evidence of damages. Say the judge says in the order that "the damage appears to have been a result of X."

1. Is this worth appealing?
2. Are the defendants doing anything wrong/unethical/illegal by ignoring the pics/video?
3. Can you get the evidence somehow entered onto this, seeing as it is very indisputable?

reading comprehension? seriously wtf. Did I say just D? No. Did I say this is the reason I'd take LBJ? No. The #1 reason I'd take LBJ over Wade is because he's the best player in the NBA and is far less injury prone (not to mention 3 years younger). I think he's better in large part due to his D and his fewer TOs.

I mean, offensively, I have a hard time arguing LBJ is much better Wade, or vice versa.

Bobbo, do you remember last year when i essentially said this about west and you said west was good in his own right?

edit: i backed off that statement as the season wore on-- i think it was during the playoffs that i officially ate my words, but it started here

it's not conclusive, but i love KG, and he's better. so there, it's conclusive to me.

I think West is a solid, + player. He's no AS or anything, but he's solid.

False. Super Trout pwns. His other move is taking the second dribble and dunking in your face: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-9EuB-5x6A

Or no dribbles and dunk in your face: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzq4o...eature=related

Going to reread that bit, but I was probably wrong if I gave alot of credit to West, I probably didn't realize last year just how godly Paul is (and in turn, how much less impressive his teammates are)

Wizards?

yeah, i agree with this. my point was that as a #2 (or even #3) option, he's not that desirable. also, he's 28 or 29, he's at his peak. and i dont think he deserved his all star berth last year... would make a bet that he wont ever get picked to another asg again